Lecavalier, 33, was the top free agent on the market after taking a buyout from the Tampa Bay Lightning and picked Philadelphia over many, many teams, including the Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings.

Vincent Lecavalier is still a capable second-line center, but he can't play goalie. (AP Photo)

That puts the Flyers back over the cap after temporarily digging their way out with buyouts to Danny Briere and Ilya Bryzgalov. Their improvement to one of the worst defenses in the league is an aging Mark Streit, and their starting goalie is Steve Mason, who was bad for three years before Philly acquired him at the trade deadline.

It's not quite the cap disaster it seems, though; Chris Pronger is headed right back to long-term injured reserve, and after next season, Kimmo Timmonen and Andrej Meszaros' $10 million in contracts will come off the books. Philadelphia has to replace them, but odds are they could find two functional defensemen for less.

Still, this is a move that could cause problems down the road and, at the moment, guarantees that any upgrades at defense or goaltender will be minimal. That's why they didn't make the playoffs in 2013.

Short term, Lecavalier is still a useful player. He had 10 goals and and 22 assists in 39 games last season, his last with the Lightning. They drafted him first overall in 1999 and watched him captain the 2004 Stanley Cup champions, then peak as a 108-point player in 2006-07. Changes to the CBA forced Tampa Bay to buy out the last seven years (and $7.7 million cap hits) of what would've been a career-spanning deal.